Out of Paradise
by Nilke
Summary: [Eat-Man] A two-oneshot fic after the events of episode 11 of the first season, "Paradise". A glimpse at Bolt and Jessica's thoughts.
1. Chapter 1

**Out of Paradise**

"Tear colored Venus"

Mercenary Bolt Crank opened his eyes once more, and knew that everything so precious that had happened to him had been nothing but a dream.

The last thing he had seen before waking up in that cold, impersonal room was sweet Dr Jessica Wobart knelt down on the Black Forest, crying for him, desperate.

And he had been in the arms of a witchy-looking Death, scythe included.

And that woman, Death, had brought him back to reality, after a small vacation on a real Paradise island.

It had been so miraculous, that even that Death had told him, surprised, "You've become like everyone else".

Indeed, he had been a regular guy at that island. He had been found near the Black Forest by Milly, a little girl who had tons of energy and loving. And he had been treated by Jessica, with whom he had felt really comfortable with, at long last. He had been doing some carpentry and painting works.

Most shocking thing ever, he didn't need bolts and claws to eat.

And nothing came out from his hand.

He had feel quite relieved, indeed, even if he didn't know well what he had done in the past.

He had been happy in the island, enjoying the little pleasures of a normal life. He had sort of fathered a little girl who had saved his life, along with Jessica, who now had to suffer the jokes of the townspeople who seemed keen to pair her with him.

He wouldn't complain about it, mind you.

Luckily, she guessed it at time, and they could enjoy a bit of their loving.

She had helped him to recover, he had helped her with some chores, like painting a fence "the color of the ocean", the type of blue that Jessica and Milly enjoyed so much.

He also enjoyed it, who was he to hide it? It made him at ease.

That sea had meant so much for them. He had realized he had been found what he had been looking for in that place. He had found a great woman who understood him, and who wasn't afraid of his past in front of that sea. And he had first kissed that woman in front of that sea.

That blue ocean was like a source of life and peace to him.

But that peace had to end, and so quickly.

Now, he was sitting in a strange place, with a strange woman he had never seen in his life, who seemed to be too eager to start talking.

He felt sort of lost, and empty.

A sense of needing, it was like a void opening within him.

It was a long list of needs, the one he got from that little trip to Paradise.

He needed them… he needed Molly, he needed Jessica.

He needed living as a normal human being.

He needed to be called "young man", rather than "mercenary"

He needed Jessica's lovingly, tender body next to his.

He even needed those old fashioned dressed people, with their old-fashioned minds.

He needed calmness to rely on.

He was out of Paradise, and wanted to return. To that beautiful island where he thought he had found what he had been looking for.

He had been dead… and it had been the most marvelous situation he found himself into.

Now that he was alive, realizing that he had lost all that, made it horrible.

He recalled Jessica's last words. She was right, reality was too hard to confront.

He barely paid attention to the woman who had resuscitated him; she was talking about some mission and stuff that it didn't matter to him anymore.

He was more interested in the big machine that was at her back. That thing was supposed to have kept him alive in a coma after whoever knew what had happened to him.

There was something on it that couldn't leave him at ease…

Those bright red lights… they were familiar, and at the same time they weren't. The shone in a cross-shaped artifact made of some gray metal. Then, he recalled Jessica's cross, the one she had around her neck all the time. It did have a small red stone that shone brightly. More or less like those red lights around him.

He kept on staring at the machine, and for some reason, he could feel it would be a shy young woman if it were to have human form.

He reminded him of Jessica a bit… but it wasn't her. It couldn't be her.

No, it was really her. And he was certain of it.

If you got rid of all those metals and shinning red lights, which resembled more of a brothel, there she was, waiting for him to notice her.

For some reason, he wasn't surprised. What could you expect from the man that had nails and bolts for breakfast?

Somehow, having a love interest made out of wires and plastic, bits and bytes didn't seem too extraordinary.

Still, he had to make sure of his assumptions.

"What color is the fence?", he finally asked her, adjusting his sunglasses.

A small silence took place before the mechanical voice with hints of polite girl could talk.

"The color of the ocean", Jessica finally replied.

Indeed, it was her.

Why did it have to end up like that? He had found a life he felt comfortable in, he had met people who liked him… and he had to be brought back from all that. Only to find that no one was still around in the real world. Jessica would never be able to talk to him, not even walk by his side… It was like a fate worse than death itself.

He knew she still existed, but wouldn't be able to hang up with her anymore. She wasn't really real anymore.

So that was why Death seemed surprised that Jessica could harbor such feelings…

There was one faint hope left… even if it was hoping the impossible.

He asked her about Milly, and she told him what he already knew: that she had been dead for a day and a half before he awoke.

When he had first awoken in the island, he had believed her to Venus, as she seemed to have every little detail he liked in a woman.

When he had last seen her, his Venus was crying her heart out.

Now… it was awful.

His tear-colored Venus, reduced to a pile of metal, cables, and a synthetic voice.

And Milly, the sociable and full of life child that he had befriended, dead.

If that wasn't something to cry for, then he didn't know what it could be. And he had seen way too many strange things in his trips around the world.

Then, the female stranger started trying to explain his mission to him, but he wouldn't listen to her.

He wanted to end his days as a mercenary. He had seen he could have another life, even if it would take him too much to achieve…

But he also knew that he was in the real world once more.

Where he was living was a wasteland, a desert, unlike the green and small island he had lived in the best moments of his life.

And there were no Jessica or Milly around… and no possibility of having them, either.

He knew he would most likely give in to that woman's request, but not soon, not right now, when he had the flavor of tears stuck up in his throat.

Tears… Jessica had been crying madly the last time she saw her…

No one had cried that much for him before.

Maybe, if he took the woman's request, he could find a way to reunite with Jessica again.

He wondered if she could be eternity, and their little island would be their own little Paraside…

He didn't know it, but a bolt he couldn't eat had remained in the beach… maybe as a proof that he had been there.

Or maybe as a token of a possible return…


	2. Chapter 2

**Out of Paradise**

"The color of the fence... the color of the ocean"

Dr Jessica Wobart had run after Bolt and the Death spirit that was carrying him to some place she couldn't reach. She had begged, cried her heart out, yelled and pleaded, and Death hadn't given in. What's more, she seemed fun and entertained at the fact that she could feel at all.

It was an insult over the other. She had treated worse than garbage, she had left her all alone, taking everything away from her.

First, it was Molly, then Bolt. Now, she had no one to return to. She had lost them at the hands of both Death and Life... they were just two sides of the same coin. The Black Forest was just the same to them... Even if a Death spirit had taken them away from her, the results in real life had been quite different.

She lost Milly to Death.

She lost Bolt to Life.

Just where was her? Just in between, in a Limbo... unable to do anything but to see them go, unable to return anymore.

And it hurt her. Greatly.

The last few days at the island had been like Paradise to her.

She had befriended a great young girl, always so energetic, always so cheerful, by the name of Molly.

Then, Molly had found Bolt close to the Black Forest, and then, the little girl had brought the man to her clinic. And she, Jessica Wobart, the only doctor in the island, had been the one who had tended his wounds, and waited for him to awake.

They had talked during long walks along the island. At first, he wasn't too fond of conversation, but slowly, he started opening up to her.

But she enjoyed those walks, even if he didn't talk at all. Having him around was quite comforting and nice to her.

He even offered himself to help her with some carpentry duties. It was then when he painted the fence around the clinic.

Molly originally wanted to paint it pink, but she managed to convince her to paint it some other color. The vivacious child came up with the idea of painting it "the color of the ocean".

Not a regular blue, but the color of the magnificent ocean that surrounded the island. And she couldn't have been more right about her choice.

Luckily, Rand, the owner of the hardware store, had such a color to paint the wooden fence.

They seemed like a family together. Even the townspeople seemed eager to adopt Bolt to their lifestyle.

Only that they didn't know he was a mercenary.

But for her, he seemed to be ready to leave that kind of life behind. Not because she was the one behind the idea, but because he claimed that he had been able to find what he had been looking for.

In a way, he also was what she had been always expecting for.

It was so beautiful to find someone to rely on, to lean on…

With the gorgeous ocean as witness, they gave in to their feelings.

Jessica felt that everything was going really smoothly, and she was really happy.

The only thing that could trouble her was that she once saw him choking after trying to eat a nail.

But she had her own little secret, so she wasn't so surprised, not as much as he had been.

But good things had to come to an end, and sadly, she knew it.

She had known when Milly got close to Death… it had been a sharp pain at her chest. She barely made it until the patient she was looking at was finally outside her house, that she closed the door energetically and braced herself, hoping she was wrong.

But she wasn't.

That very night Death appeared and took Milly with her, not before warning Bolt that she would come for him the next day.

She had tried to prevent it, she had even drugged Bolt when he hinted at her that he planned to do something about it.

But it had been useless.

Death appeared once more, as she promised, and when Jessica could realize it, she was running, chasing the Death that was carrying Bolt in her arms.

It was then when she had begged, but nothing came out from it.

Dr Wobart wept, or did the best she could, as she was, actually, just a PC program in a life support machine in the real world.

She wanted Bolt back.

Milly was already dead, and nothing could be done.

Now, in the real world, she was there, omniscient from her machine's screens and lights in form of cross, just like the cross she had around her neck in that idyllic life. She could only see and talk back when talked. Nothing else.

She had never asked why they had made it that way. She didn't know. She just knew that, once, there was nothing, and then… everything. Life had been inflicted on her, and she didn't know how or why.

But back to the real world, she could see Bolt waking up, adjusting his glasses, just as he had done in her island. Her heart would have fluttered, if she had one, as she could see the tender chest where she had lied over a couple of marvelous times.

She wanted to break free from that imprisonment she suffered.

The woman explained something to Bolt, but he seemed to be more concerned with what was laying at the woman's back.

With her machine.

Ignoring the woman, he had asked her which color was the fence…

He knew it was her.

Despite all the machinery and cables and screens around, he could tell it was her.

And she had been happy, as happy as a computer could be, and more, even. Almost like a real woman.

She didn't know why he had been entrusted to her, but now she had been thankful of having met him.

And she was grateful that she could tell that she still existed.

Jessica answered, "The color of the ocean".

A long pause on his lips, he adjusted his sunglasses, even seemed to sigh.

Then, he asked about Milly. She replied to him.

Then, the woman started talking.

Bolt told the woman he didn't want to be a mercenary anymore. Like in the island. Like when he was with her…

Then he took down her job proposal and left.

And she was left all alone, like at that moment when Death had gotten away with her duty, and in less than 48 hs, she took away two precious souls from her.

Only that this time, she couldn't cry, nor kneel down, nor move in any way, as she was an algorithm in a machine.

In a way, she was crucified in her own cross of lights.

She couldn't control it much, but she was used at coming and going from being a life-support machine to a real doctor in an illusion world.

She didn't want to go on being a support machine, but a doctor, as in her dreams. She needed her Paradise world if she didn't want to get mad about everything and be shut down in the process. This would basically mean a death sentence to her. And she wasn't eager to die.

It was like a way to protect herself from such a harsh reality. That was why she knew that reality was too hard to confront.

And now that she found herself all alone, it was even more difficult.

So, she retired to her island, when no one from the real world came to ask her anything.

And so, Dr Jessica Wobart returned alone to the town from the Black Forest. She had gotten the sympathy and caring from the entire town. They had looked after her lovingly, as she did with them when they weren't feeling well. She couldn't complain about it. She tried to immerse herself on work, or read, or whatever activity could keep her mind busy.

One day, Jessica found herself on the shore. Not so away from her, lies a fence painted blue.

No, not blue, but the "color of the ocean".

She let the sea to touch her feet, and thought about all the things that had happened to her.

There had been more people coming and going from her island, all patients at the verge of death. Luckily, she didn't allow herself to get too close to them.

Life had been calm, like usual in the island.

She had been studying in her free time if there was some connection with the people staying on the island and the machine in the real world, but she couldn't guess much about it.

So, she would have to go on, while praying for a way to meet Bolt, some time.

And so, she came to the beach, to see the gorgeous sea around.

How could she forget them, if they had given her the best days she could have ever lived?

While walking, she noticed something shinning in the sand. She knelt down and picked it, only to realize that it was a screw.

Her thoughts flied to Bolt's memory.

There usually were only snails on the shore.

She grabbed it, and wished that finding it could mean an answer to her praying, like a way to assure her that, someday, she would be able to see Bolt once again.

The End

Notes: I've been with this idea on my head for ages... this certain episode of Eat-Man had been quite touching for me, and I still treasure it through the years... I even used the girls names for some original characters in another fic (didn't take the characters, I mixed them a bit), thinking that I would never get to write this.


End file.
